Toy vehicle



Jan. 26 1926.

R. H. MA'NLEY TOY VEHICLE Filed July 5.' 1925 I un I INVENTOR AUORNEYSPatented Jan. 26,1926. e

RAYMQND H. MANLEY, OF COTTONWOOD, ARIZONA.

v TOY VEHICLE.

Appiicatmn ined July 5,

To @ZZ Iwhom t majoor/cern.'

LnY, a citizen of the United'V States, and resi-k'y dent. of Cottonwood,in the county of Yavapai and VState of Arizona, have V.invented certainnew and useful Iiiiproveinen'ts in Toy Vehicles, of which the followingis a specification. A, 'e

My invention relates to improvements ,in

toy vehicles ofthe class comprising vehicles: which -are adapted to bestraddledbychildren and to be propelled by bodyginovements of theriders, and itl consists in the combinations, constructions`- andyarrangements herein describedand claimed. z i

A11 object of the invention is to,A va l vehicle of the' characterdescribed ,whichisl constructed in such manner, that ay forward and.Ibackward rocking inovenfientl of the bodyof achild seated thereon'willcause,l

locomotion of ther vehicle. i'

A further object ofthe invention is to pro-4 vide a wheellessjvehiclewhich issupported upon rockeriinits 'which fare adapted'tofbe actuated.`successivelyl upon '-'forwardand backward rocking movementY of thebody'v of a child seated onthe vehicle to cause locomotion of thesurface.

A further object of the invention is to `prov vide a vehicle of thecharacter'described which is' relatVely'sim'ple in construction, strongand durable, easyl of operation.V andv thoroughly practicalcommercially.

Other objects and advantages will be ap- `l parent from the followingVdescriptio'mcon`V sidered yin yconjunction with `the yaccompanyingdrawings, in which-H Figure 1.is,aside elevation,.ofafvehicle embodyingithe invention, showing theV for-l ward end portionoffthebody ofthevehicle in relativelyraised position. f

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure; 1,]

sho-wing the rearward end portion of the body ofthe vehicle inrelativelyraisedpo-V,

sition, and

Figure 3 is al top plan viewA of .the ve-k hicle.. I'

A vehicle embodying,.the/invention the thefseat 2 and extendinglongitudinally of .l

the latter, and a member 4 which is upstandvehicle along a supporting1923, seria1nae4a,eoe. 4

` v ing from the ldat the forward end` of Be it known that" LRAYMOND H.MAN- j the latter and which carries a pair 4of laterallyf'extendinghandles 5.The barsB are i Vsecured to the' under side'o'f the seat2 to,extend in parallelrelation to each otherl and along thek under sideofthe seat 2 adjacent to the oppositeside or longitudinal jedgesextend'beyond the forward 'end of tions Vof the'bars'S andy is securedto :the

tending end Yportions of a single rodorlk barwhich is supportedintermediateits lengthin an openingithrough the upperpart oftheupstanding member lk and extends equi-di1sff v tant beyond the opposite4sides of the latter. l -Tlierseat 2and .thebars 3 maybe `fashioned flto have the general sliapeofftlie fbodyrof; ananimal, suoli as a horse,and the upst'and-Y ing.l member 4 maybe fashionedlto lhave fthe shapekof the` neck portion and headbffth'e animal,'thelikeness beingaccentuated by the use'of paint on the upstanding portion 4 in themanner indicated at,9, ifdesired.

of the latter, best seeii'in Figure-3. lThe bars 3 Y'therseat 2 and atpoints adjacent to their `for-rv ward extremities support a pair oflaterally l extending' foot rests 6 ywhich niay'bethe ex- "tending'endportions of a singlebar or rod', such as that indicated at 7, whichextends` through openings vin the forward end [porr- The body' 1jis'wsupported uadjacent to: its,"

`forward,endupon a rockenunit 10 and adjacentto its rearward y,endmupon`a rocker 4 v unit 11. 'The 'rocker unit 10 comprises a? pair of similarrockers 10a heldin yspaced:n

parallel relation in respect to each other by .l a connecting lblock'10b' and provided with Ya pair of'axially aligne'dtrunnions 10c whichextend'fronifopposite sides of the rockers 10a. in eccentricrelation tothe latter, the

:axis ofthe trunnions 10"; intersecting the rocker unit 10 'along a linelocated nearer vto the forward end 'of the rocker unit .and nearerto theupper side of the rocker unit of therocker unit 10, or in 'other wordsrelain the bars l3, the axis ofthe openings' 12 10o than to the rearwardend and the'lowerside ulying-ina vertical plane passing rearwardlymerged one into the other along a curved line and lie in planesextending substantially at right angles to each other.

The rear rocker unit 11 comprises a pair of similar' rockers 11a held inspaced parallel relation in respect to each other and connected by ablock 111, the rocker unit 11 being provided with a pair of trunnions 13extending laterally of the remote faces of the rockers 11a. The axis ofthe trunnions 13 intersects the rocker unit 11 along a line relativelyadjacent to the front upper corner of the rocker unit 11. The trunnions13 are journaled in horizontally aligned openings 14 in the rearward endportions of the bars 3. The lower face of eac-h of the rockers 11a isindicated at 11c and is relatively long, being convexly curved as shownand being merged along a curved line into the front face 11d of therocker. l

A spring 15 which is secured adjacent to its rearward end to the underside of the seat 2 curves downwardly and forwardly toward its front endand engages at its front end with the upper side of the connecting block10b rearwardly of the vertical plane in which the axis of the trunnions10c is located, thus tending to swing the rocker unit 10 a clockwisedirection about the axis of the trunnions 10C to the positionillustrated in Figure 1, whereby the body 1 will be raised at itsforward end. A spring 16 which is secured at or adjacent to its rearwardend to the under side of the seat 2 curves downwardly and forwardlytoward its forward end and engages at its forward end with the upperside of the block 11b rearwardly of the vertical plane in which the axisof the trunnions 13 lies and tends to swing the rocker unit 11 in aclockwise direction about the axis of the trunnions 13 to the positionillustrated in Figure 2, whereby the rearward end portion of the body 1will be raised in respect to a supporting sur-- face, such as thatindicated at 17, as shown in Figure 2.

From the foregoing description of the v rious parts of the device, theoperation there of may be readily understood. The weight of the body ofa child who is seated upon the body 1 will hold the body 1 substantiallyin horizontal position so long as the body of the child is erect. Inorder to propel the vehicle, the child places his feet upon the footrests 6, grasps the handles 5 and then alternately bends the bodyforward and. backward, pushing with his feet against the foot rests 6and with his hands against the handles 5 during the forward movement ofhis body and pulling on the handles 5 during the rearward movement ofhis body. During the forward movement of the body of the child, thepressure occasioned by his weight on the body 1 will be removed from therocker unit 11 to an extent sufficient to permit the spring` 16 to actto swing the rocker unit 11 to the position shown in Figure 2. lVhen theweight of the body of the child is imposed upon the rocker unit 11, aswhen the body of the child has been swung backward, the action of thespring 15 will swing the rocker unit 1() to the position shown in Figure1 and the rocker unit 11 will roll forward to a position in which theradial distance from the axis of the trunnions 13 to the supportingsurface is relatively short, thus occasioning a movement of thev body 1over the supporting surface in the general direction of the length ofthe body 1 and in a manner simulating the novement of an animal whichwalks on four egs.

It thusV will be apparent that the radial distance from the axis of thetrunnion of the rocker unit 10 to the supporting surface will berelatively short when the radial distance from the' trunnions of therocker unit 11 is relatively long, and vice versa. Therefore, rocking ofthe body of a child who is seated upon the body 1 forward and backwardwill cause locomotion of the vehicle. This movement of the vehicle canbe effected with but relatively little fatigue tothe child and themovement of the vehicle in a forward direction can be guided by varying95 the pressure against the respective foot rests 6, as required. rlheswinging movements of the rocker units 10 and 11 in response to theactuation thereof by the springs 15 and 16 will be limited by theengagement of the 100 rocker units with the under side of the seat 2.The vehicle comprises no, parts which move relatively in such manner asto be likely to pinch or injure any portion of the body of the child whois seated thereon. 105 The outer side faces of the rockers 10a and 11ELmay be painted to depict the legs and feet of the animal of which theupstanding portion represents the neck and head portion.

Obviously, my invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other thanthat illustrated in the accompanying drawings and I' therefore consideras my own all modifications and adaptations of the form of the de- 115vice herein disclosed which fairly fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A toy vehiclecomprising an elongated 120 seat, a pair of eccentrics rockinglysupporting` the seat upon a supporting surface at points `adjacent tothe opposite ends of the latter and in advance of and above the level ofthe transverse central lines of the eccen- 125 tries, handle memberssupported upon the seat above the forward end of the latter. foot restmembers supported in advance of the forward end of the seat, and springmeans arranged between said eccentrics and 130 the seat and actingcontinuously to urge said eccentrics toward such positions in respect tothe seat that the radial line from the axis about which each eccentricrocks to the supporting surface will be relatively long.

2. A'toy vehicle comprising a seat, a pair of spaced apart parallel barssecured to the under side of the seatand extending beyond the forwardend of the latter, a pair of laterally extending foot rests carried bysaid bars .adjacent to the forward ends thereof, an upstanding handlecarrying member on the forward end portion of said seat, a pair ofrocker units swingingly attached to said bars for supporting said seatat points adjacent to the forward and rear .ends of the latter, each ofsaid rocker units being attached to said bars to turn about an axisintersecting the upper forward portion of each rocker unit, and springmeans carried by the seat and re-acting against the upper sides of therocker units rearwardly of their axes ofrevolution to urge the rearwardend portions of the rocker units downwardly.

3. A toy vehicle comprising a pair of rocker units, an` elongated bodyswingingly supported upon the rocker units, one of said rocker unitsbeing disposed beneath one end portion of said body and the otheryrocker unit being disposed beneath the opposite end portion of saidbody, each of said rocker units comprising an eccentric adapted to rockabout an axis intersecting the respective eccentric in advance of andabove the level of'its transverse central line andex- .tending at rightangles to the direction of length of said body, said rocker units being`of said rocker units rest upon .a substanf tially flat surface and whenso actuated repeatedly to propel the body forward.

RAYMOND H. MANLEY.

